Rock around the Park

A drive to get more girls playing golf by Richard Strange, the head PGA pro at Norwood Park in Nottinghamshire, has had the club rocking.

The initiative, Girls Golf Rocks, is a joint programme delivered by England Golf and the Golf Foundation and is supported by county associations and sports partnerships.

It aims to attract more fermale beginners to have fun, learn a new sport, get active and play alongside friends – with no pressure.

And the response at Norwood Park has been spectacular.

“More than 200 girls have taken part this year,” reported Strange. “And many have now moved into full membership, obtaining their first official handicaps and playing competitions.”

Some have even gone on to have individual success, not least junior member Elizabeth Wilson.

She was presented with a new set of PING clubs as part of the ‘Bag for Birdies’ scheme run by PING and UPS, supported by the Golf Foundation.

"She was nominated for her commitment and enthusiasm,” Strange explained.

“We are delighted one of our juniors benefited from this national initiative which meant that for every birdie Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen made in the four majors, UPS donated a set of PING Golf clubs to a development project.”

Strange won the Golf Foundation’s National Presidents Award in 2014 and his latest efforts to get youngsters playing golf have been praised by Matthew Bloor, development officer for the Nottinghamshire Golf Development Group.

"Norwood Park Golf Centre has shown itself to be one of the more pro-active clubs in Nottinghamshire,” he said.

“They put development at the heart of everything they do, which creates a warm and friendly atmosphere at the club. They put the love of the game at the centre of all they do and in doing so have become a shining light for the region.”